5 Last Minute DIY Valentine's Day Gifts: Good Talk, Good Food with the GH Test Kitchen

In case you missed it yesterday, food editors from the Good Housekeeping Test Kitchen hosted their first Google+ Hangout video...super exciting! Our team made 5 easy homemade Valentine's Day gifts, then our favorite bloggers chimed in with charming packaging ideas (and even a quick cocktail recipe). You still have time to make these DIY gifts before V-Day arrives—they're that easy! Watch the video on the Good Housekeeping YouTube Channel or catch up by reading the full recap below. We're hoping to organize more chats in the near future, so be sure to follow Good Housekeeping on Google+ to stay in the loop!

We kicked off the conversation with Conversation Heart Vodka (he, he)! This was my edible project, actually—as mentioned in the video, I make a lot of candy-infused spirits at home and this was something I experimented with using leftover Valentine's Day candy and really loved. You can find the original recipe on my personal blog, Food & Femininity, or just follow this simple ratio. Here's how you do it:

For each color, put 40 candies per 1 cup vodka in an airtight container. Shake until the color and flavor of the candies soak into the liquid. Strain and bottle immediately or let sit overnight—the longer it sits, the more colorful and flavorful the vodka will become.

Leah Bergman, graphic designer and founder of Freutcake, came up with the perfect way to package the candy-color cordials: She made Conversation Heart-inspired gift tags with an easy cocktail recipe on the back. Go to her blog, Freutcake, for the free printable template. All you need is construction paper, tissue paper and scissors — so adorable!

The cocktail, called "Cupid's Kiss," is the ultimate choice for a Valentine's Day toast (just look at the color)! Leah rimmed a martini glass with red and white sanding sugar, then shook the candy heart vodka and Rose Lillet in a cocktail shaker and topped it with bubbly champagne. Click here for her full recipe.

Next up, Susan Westmoreland — our brilliant Food Director — shared her super-simple truffle recipe. It's made entirely in the microwave and only uses 3 ingredients! She makes these every Valentine's Day with her son. Whip up a batch for the chocolate-lover in your life. Here's how:

Put the chocolate, heavy cream and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave 1 minute. Remove from the microwave (the chocolate will be partially melted) and stir until melted and smooth. Pour into a plastic wrap–lined loaf pan and freeze until firm, about 1 hour. Shape into truffles, then roll in assorted toppings, like cocoa powder, confectioners' sugar, toasted cocoa, ground nuts, etc.

Bonus: Don't have time to roll truffles? Susan recommends greasing the inside of a large cookie cutter and pouring the melted truffle mixture directly inside of it on a lined baking sheet to make 1 large molded truffle. Freeze, then pop out the truffle and serve/wrap as desired.

Christina Hibbs, of Christina's Adventures, came up with 3 fabulous (and thrifty!) packaging idea for a box of Susan's homemade truffles using the all-purpose crafting essential: brown butchers' paper. She wrapped boxes, then embellished them with stamps, ribbon, lace, even a homemade lipstick smooch! There's more info on Christina's site, so click here for details.

Our resident craft-queen, Katie Holdefehr, was inspired by the matchstick's Kara Allen made for this fire truck birthday party and gave the idea her own romantic twist for Valentine's Day gifting. As Katie mentioned in the video, you can either use candy melts or plain white-chocolate tinted with oil-based gel food coloring for the matchstick tips (the oil-based food dye is better for candy coloring than water-based). We like to use Wilton's Candy Melts, which are widely available from retailers like Amazon and Michael's. Get dipping! Here's how:

Put the candy melts in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave in 10 to 20 second intervals, stirring between each, about 1 minute or until melted. Dip 1 end of each pretzel in the melted chocolate. Transfer to a sheet of wax or parchment paper and let sit at room temperature until the chocolate sets.

Katie use recycled matchboxes to complete the homemade package. First she lined the insides with tissue paper, then she wrapped the boxes with construction paper and glued on cutouts from paper doilies to decorate the finished product. Look a little closer, though! Katie stamped fire-themed messages inside of the box for a little something extra. Too darn cute!

Also super-cute were the vintage matchboxes craft blogger Kelly Rowe, of Live, Laugh, Rowe, demoed in the video.

Her trick for making new matchboxes gorgeous and slightly antiqued (as seen above) is to wrap them in craft paper and them rub the edges gently with some sanding paper to rough 'em up a bit. How brilliant is that!? Kelly has a full post about how to make her DIY matchboxes on her blog, so click here and see how it's done.

Sharpie Permanent Markers posted this DIY coffee mug project, from Elsie Larson of A Beautiful Mess, and it went viral on Pinterest and other blogs! The method couldn't be easier: Use a Sharpie marker (any color) to decorate a mug with a pet name or other phrase, then bake at 350˚ for 30 minutes to set your design. You can buy them premade from online shops, like Smitten on Esty, or try your hand at them at home. Click here for Sharpie's official instructions.

Kara Allen from Kara's Party Ideas—an expert on all things packaging and a great online resource for party, craft and decorating supplies—provided us with a few different wrapper ideas for DIY mugs. She filled mugs with candy and nestled them in berry baskets for a fun, fresh twist on a gift bag—there are a few great screen shots in the video for you to look at. You can buy them at her online shop (and while you're at it, browse through some of the other packaging supplies for even more inspiration). Right now Kara's offering free shipping with the promotional code KARAS65 so get on it!

Poke the chiles with a pin, if desired, to make the vodka super spicy. Put the chiles and vodka in an airtight container (I used an 8.5 oz flask from the Container Store). Wrap as desired. To embellish the bottle, I used washi tape to make a geometric heart. Just cut out small squares tape and arrange in layers until you make the size/shape heart you'd like.

That wraps up our very first Google+ Hangout video. Hope to see you there next time and have a very happy Valentine's Day.